


A Well-Rounded Education

by cordeliadelayne



Category: Primeval
Genre: Angst, F/M, Helen's heart is frozen, Infidelity, Sex, Stephen is not thinking smart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-08-08 13:56:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7760416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cordeliadelayne/pseuds/cordeliadelayne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Stephen falls for someone, he falls hard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Well-Rounded Education

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nietie](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=nietie).



> Written for nietie who gave the prompt: "lessons in love". 
> 
> Originally posted to Livejournal in 2010.

Stephen was running late. His hair still damp from the shower at the university gym he was rushing through the corridors, dodging his way around students as they exited the cafeteria and cursing the fact he hadn't noticed his watch had stopped. Helen Cutter didn't seem like the kind of woman you kept waiting and he desperately wanted a place on her doctorate course.

He skidded to a stop outside her office, tried to school his expression into whatever the opposite of frantic was, and patted futilely at his hair.

“Okay, Stephen, you can do this,” he murmured to himself.

“She doesn't bite you know.”

Stephen whirled around to find Helen's husband standing behind him. He flushed guiltily. “Oh, Professor Cutter, I didn't see you there.”

“How many times have I asked you to call me Nick?”

Stephen smiled an apology. He'd been working for Cutter part-time as a teaching assistant while he finished his masters, mainly doing the marking that Cutter couldn't be bothered with and dealing with the students who burst into tears on getting less than the “A” they were used to. He would have gladly asked Cutter to be his supervisor, but the professor was heading off on a six-month research trip to Australia in two weeks and Stephen couldn't afford to put off his doctorate studies. Besides, Helen Cutter was world-renowned, so it wasn't as if he were settling for second best, far from it.

“And today is your lucky day,” Cutter was saying, and Stephen tried hard to zone back in.

“Oh, why's that?”

“Helen's running late too. She asked me to open up her office and get you settled.”

Stephen gave a genuine smile that time. It would give him a chance to calm his nerves, and sound out what Cutter thought his chances were. He knew there were three other candidates, but their identities were being kept a closely guarded secret.

“You don't have anything to worry about, you know,” Cutter told him. He motioned for Stephen to take a seat in front of Helen's desk and went over to a small sink area. “Tea or coffee?”

“Uh, tea, please. And you really don't think I have anything to worry about?”

Cutter favoured him with a small smile. “I'm positive. The other candidates haven't exactly been up to Helen's exacting standards, and your work more than speaks for itself. Besides, she knows you, that's a big help.”

Stephen nodded. He'd often spent time over at the Cutter's house, helping Cutter organise himself, so it wasn't as if Helen was a total stranger. And he was sure he'd enjoy working with her. He even had a small crush on her, though he wasn't about to mention that to her husband. He was sure she had no idea, anyway.

Feeling a little better about himself he pulled out his notebook and began flicking through it, making sure he remembered what points he had wanted to make. He nodded absently as Cutter placed a steaming mug of tea on the desk in front of him, barely noticing when the other man gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder and left the room.

“I got held up with the Dean,” Helen Cutter was saying as she marched into the room. Stephen startled, realising that he'd been beginning to doze. He supposed that was her way of apologising, when he checked the clock on the wall and realised that over an hour had gone by.

“Oh,” Stephen said, immediately caught off guard by the dress Helen was wearing. It was red and showed an almost indecent amount of cleavage and had a slit going all the way up to an area Stephen was most definitely not thinking about.

“And of course, I had to change.”

“Oh?” Stephen asked, wincing at how unintelligent he sounded.

“The Dean is insisting Nick and I make an appearance at this fundraiser for the new Paleontology lab.” She smiled humorlessly and leaned forward. “And your tea is cold.”

Stephen opened his mouth before he realised what she meant and then closed it again. She was wearing a very exotic perfume and all Stephen wanted to do right now was push himself closer to her skin. He actually had to grip at the edge of the chair in order to stop his body from acting of its own accord.

“So you want to reschedule, then?” Stephen finally managed to ask.

Helen was already half way out the door when she turned back to him, a smirk playing on her lips. “Don't be ridiculous. You had the position the minute I saw you. Be here at 8am on Monday.”

And with that she was gone and Stephen sank back in the chair, relief washing over him.

* * * * *

“Oh, fuck,” Stephen cursed, grabbing hold of Helen's thigh and pushing himself inside of her. She was leaning back against the wall, one leg using her desk to keep herself upright as Stephen pounded inside her as hard as he could. They'd been doing this for nearly six months and Helen gave very clear instructions about what she wanted, and how she liked to be fucked, so Stephen knew what to do with barely any direction.

“Harder,” she growled, her nails making patterns along his back that he knew from experience would sting in the morning. “Come on, Stephen, show me what you can do.”

Stephen growled, and lapped at her neck, grazing the skin with his teeth. He manoeuvred his hand on Helen's leg, opening her up even wider and adjusting his stance so that every time he thrust inside her she was thrashing her head back against the wall, and pushing herself down on him, her long brown hair falling over his face, and her own.

He tried, oh god how he tried, not to come first, but it was no good and he was falling to his knees to finish her off with his tongue before she could say anything. It only took a few fast movements before she was coming too and Stephen could only hope he'd done a good enough job.

“B+,” Helen said after a moment. She patted at his hair. “A for effort though.”

Stephen nodded, his legs still trembling too much for him to stand up just yet.

“Remember to turn off the lights when you leave,” Helen was saying, and Stephen tried to focus back on her movements. She was pulling her trousers back on and readjusting her shirt (neither of them ever got fully naked) and then with a quick sweep of the room to make sure she hadn't left anything out of place, she was gone.

Stephen sighed and sank onto his back. He stared up at the dirty ceiling and wondered how his life had come to this. His eyes drifted to the calendar by the door, that Cutter had affixed with a smiley face to show the date of his return. Tomorrow.

“God,” Stephen groaned. “I'm an arse.”

He hadn't meant for anything to happen. Helen was attractive, god so attractive. And powerful, not just in her presence but with her physicality too, something he'd realised when he'd taken up her offer of going for a jog one evening and very nearly had trouble keeping up.

But she'd wanted him. And that was something he still wasn't used to. He might have Freshers throwing themselves at him but he never took them up on their efforts. He wasn't a fool, he knew how he looked, but that wasn't why he was there, and certainly wasn't how he saw himself. And having someone as intelligent and as forceful as Helen Cutter wanting to be with him, _talk_ with him, about his ambitions and his dreams...it had been too much temptation for him to handle.

And now he was lying on her office floor, sticky and ill to his stomach, with thoughts of Cutter intruding. He felt especially guilty that Nick had been making an effort to form a friendship with him, emailing him interesting photos and sharing some of his insights about his dig. He'd even offered to help Stephen further with his studies when he got back.

Stephen was definitely not going to take him up on that offer. How could he possibly work with someone married to the woman he loved?

And he did love her, he was sure of it. Despite what she had told him that evening. That he was just a string of lovers and that she would never leave her husband. That if he kept his mouth shut she'd ensure he had a sparkling career but that she'd never felt anything for him. That Cutter's return meant things had to end between them.

He didn't believe her. Couldn't believe that she was that callous. She just didn't want to hurt her husband. That was all. That was understandable. And a mark in her favour.

Stephen would just have to wait for her to see sense. He'd carry on his studies, show her that he was a match for her both physically and intellectually, and then they could make a real marriage, instead of the show marriage she and Nick had.

More determined than ever and feeling much more upbeat Stephen cleaned himself up and locked up the office, remembering to pick up the chapter revisions she'd left for him.

He'd learned a lot from Helen already and now it was his turn to teach her about true devotion. And the real meaning of love.


End file.
